August 14, 2020
The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let’s seek this ancient way together as a church!
When we look back and see how God has been so utterly and completely faithful in the past, we can look to the future with absolute confidence and faith in Him! That is Moses’ message in this chapter of Deuteronomy. The people of Israel were stuck the already of God’s promises and the not yet of their full fulfillment. They had tasted victory and had started conquering the promised land, but they hadn’t seen the total fulfillment of all God had promised them yet.
Moses recounts how God had given them victory over their enemies in the past, and how at that time he had commanded Joshua, who would lead the people into the land, “Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.” (v.21-22).
Moses’ argument is that God’s grace given in the past is assurance of His promises of future grace as well! As we recall how God has seen us through and been faithful towards us already, we can look towards the not yet and move forward with complete confidence in Him! He saw us through then, and He will not let us fall now!
God has “only begun to show…[His] greatness and [His] mighty hand” (v.24). He has been faithful up until now; let’s celebrate His faithfulness and follow where He leads today with bold faith!
Deuteronomy 3
The Defeat of King Og
3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
12 “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. 13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir I gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’
Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land
23 “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- How does remembering God’s past faithfulness towards us give us confidence to walk by faith today?
Heavenly Father,
I come to the throne room this morning saying ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is your name’. You are faithful. You are righteous. There is only one way to heaven and that is by and through you son, Jesus.
Today, while I have life and breath, Father use me to assault the gates of hell. Perform miracles today, showing all your power. There is no greater miracle than for a lost person to be found, for the lost person to surrender, for the lost person to have their name written into the names now found in the Lambs Book of Life.
Father, you never force someone to surrender. It is always their choice. Open their ears to hear, their eyes to see, their hearts to receive. If not now, when? If not me going and saying and doing, then who? Guide me along the narrow path today. There is not much time…let’s be going. Amen
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your Word recounts time after time of Your faithfulness. So I will not doubt Your faithfulness with matters that concern me. I will pledge my devotion to You and will continue to believe in You. Thank You for my life and for all the days to come. Please help me live them in a way that is pleasing in Your sight. In Jesus’ name , Amen.
AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! Lord I know you have been so faithful to me. I fill up with joy when I think of how much faith I have in you. Lord I will be steadfast in your love. Keep me on my path to righteousness. Help me to be the servant you are preparing me for. In Jesus name Amen ??????
Praise the Lord for his faithfulness to Moses and Joshua, and thank you Lord for your faithfulness to me and my family. I pray for hope and comfort during these trying times. God has a plan to bring victory through Jesus.
Moses struck the first Rock, a picture of Jesus at His crucifixion, one time and water gushed out. Jesus gives water with which we will never thirst. But Moses, in his anger, struck the second Rock twice, a picture of the recrucifixion of Jesus. Hebrews tells us that this puts Christ to an open shame. That angered God and it kept Moses from entering the Promised Land.
The Lord is faithful and true. He is altogether holy and righteous and full of steadfast love and tender mercy and forgiveness. He will forever be true to His Word and His character. Forever faithful. -And He is my Lord and Shepherd, my Kinsman Redeemer, What a Savior!
We can go forward without fear of anything.
Lord Jesus-I thank you for your faithfullness to me and my family= go before me and prepare my way this day-may I not try to preplan my whole day without consulting with you Holy Spirit and your “full body” armor for protection -lets have a great day and weekend to come!
I will not fear, for the Lord my God is the One fighting for me.
Lord Jesus, you are the great physician and able to do all things for those who seek you. Thank you for healing and saving our great nation and remove these threats against us. The Corona virus continues to consume us. Bless those who are in hospitals seeking healing. Thank you for saving me at age 15 during summer church camp. I will be faithful and praise you forever. Help me help others.
Lord God, you have “only begun to show…[Your] greatness and [Your] mighty hand” (v.24). You have been faithful up until now; I celebrate Your faithfulness and will follow where You lead today with bold faith! Great is Your faithfulness, Lord unto me!
Thank you father that I don’t have to live in fear, but I can live in faith because of what you have done for me in the past, and continue to do for me today and in the future. Replace my fear with a confident and bold faith that give me strength, encourages/challenges others and reflects your glory. Thank you for Jesus, and his sacrifice that satisfies your anger toward me and my sin, allowing me to have a relationship with you and to experience your presence. Help me have a bigger vision of my life, that includes what I begin, that you will continue long after I am gone from this world. Help me love and invest time into my wife, daughters and those that I minster to, so they can benefit from your work in and through my life, in Jesus’ name.
Lord, I am so grateful for your faithfulness! Today our whole would is in such a mess! BUT GOD is still in control and it will all end when You have accomplished all that You have planned. Help me to stand firm when things look so grim.
Lord, I pray today for the Tickle family as Ginger is now with You! She will suffer no more. Please help her family see their need of You.
My God. The same yesterday, today, and forever Amen! Thank you for your faithfulness. Help us to continue to live in victory knowing what your word says in vs. 22. Amen!
We have seen God’s character in the past, which allows us to trust His character in the present and the future.❤